Meet Ethan Hawke's Wife Ryan, the 'Extremely Sensible Woman' Who Handles the Self-Proclaimed 'Half-Madman!'

Author:
Kai Green
Jun 24, 2022

Being Ethan Hawke's wife means you've got to deal with "a half-madman," according to him.

The acclaimed actor, who has been an A-lister since his breakthrough role in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, is an intensely creative person. Hawke as not only acted opposite such heavy hitters as Robin Williams and Denzel Washington, but has written novels and Oscar-nominated screenplays. He's also a director, running things behind the scenes in such films as Blaze and Chelsea Walls.

Hawke has enjoyed a mainstream resurgence as the creepy Arthur Harrow in the Marvel series Moon Knight and as "The Grabber" serial killer in The Black Phone.

The latter is a deeply sinister role, but Hawke says he actually looks at horror films the way he looks at math. "Making a good horror film is a lot like solving a geometry problem," Hawke told Slashfilm. "There's a math to a building. It has to be simple enough, complicated enough. People write books about [Alfred] Hitchcock and the timing and the way the cuts work. There's just a math to it. Scott's a very elegant filmmaker. I feel like this script was even better than Sinister, and it's more mature filmmaking. He makes good movies."

So what kind of spouse can keep up with Hawke and everything he's into? Keep reading to find out who Ethan Hawke is married to now, where he met her, and how their marriage has lasted over a decade.

Who is Ethan Hawke married to?

For 14 years, Hawke has been married to the former Ryan Shawhughes, who is 40 years old.

Who is Ryan Hawke?

Ryan Shawhughes Hawke is a graduate of Columbia University and is an actor and a producer, debuting in the 2006 film The Hottest State, which starred her now-husband. She's since moved behind the camera, working with Hawke on films like First Reformed and Blaze.

How did Ethan Hawke meet his wife Ryan?

On the surface, it seems like a tale as old as time: Ryan Shawhughes was the nanny for Hawke and then-wife Uma Thurman's two children. But hang on—there wasn't any funny business going on when she worked for him!

“After a short period of working for me, Ryan went back to Columbia to get her degree. There were never any scandalous thoughts or actions back then," Hawke said in 2009. “I know people imagine some kind of Sound Of Music type love affair, but the truth is by the time Ryan and I were falling in love, it had been a long while since I had employed her.”

He reconnected with Shawhughes about a year after he divorced Thurman, meeting her in a park by chance. "She has always been an extremely sensible, no-bullsh** woman, and frankly I thought that might be good for a half-madman like me," Hawke has said.

When did Ethan Hawke get married?

Like many men after their divorce, Hawke wasn't keen on marrying again. Still, he was so in love with Shawhughes that in 2008, three years after his divorce from Thurman, Hawke and Shawhughes tied the knot.

"I was very cautious during that period of my life and desperately wanted to stay single—I definitely never wanted to get married again. But sometimes life happens to you. Now, I love Ryan tremendously," he said in an interview. They married in a secret ceremony; they were seen wearing wedding rings on their fingers and finally, Hawke admitted that they had gotten married.

Who was Ethan Hawke married to?

Most people know that Hawke was married to Uma Thurman for about seven years. They met on the set of the sci-fi film Gattaca and got married in 1998.

Hawke has since said he went into marriage in part because he thought it would have a stabilizing effect on his skyrocketing fame. "The world felt out of control. And I wanted to stop it from spinning so fast. I thought marriage would decrease my variables or something. I was absolutely wrong,” he said in an interview in 2013.

His marriage to Thurman ultimately deteriorated and they separated in 2003, finalizing things in 2005. He admitted to his life falling apart after his divorce; he came depressed and his personal life "fell apart," he told People. How did Hawke move on? "Work. Theater. My kids. That’s the wonderful thing about children is they just need you every day. It gives your life balance. Meaning your whole life isn’t just about yourself," he said.

These days, Hawke credits his first marriage with helping him learn about himself, so that he could open up to new love in his life. "The failure of my first marriage I learned a lot about myself. Until you know yourself, you don’t know how to share your life with another person,” he told Elle magazine in 2013.

Does Ethan Hawke have children?

With ex Thurman, Hawke has two children: Maya, born in 1998 and son Levon Roan, born in 2002.

These days Maya is following her parents into the acting world, most recently appearing in Stranger Things.

"Some of you may have missed her in last year’s BBC production of Little Women. Some of you may have missed her work at Juilliard. I know many missed out on numerous high school productions—heck I even missed a few and I’m her father," the proud papa wrote on Instagram in 2019. "Some of you may know her music, some may not. But Ladies & Gentleman, get to know MAYA HAWKE. She’s the real thing."

In 2008, a month after Hawke married Shawhughes, they welcomed a daughter, Clementine Jane. Three years later, daughter Indiana arrived. Hawke says that Shawhughes has done splendidly as a mom. "She has been a wonderful, happy new mother, a great stepmother, a real instrument of healing in our family, and a much-needed partner for me in my kind of elaborate, varied and mercurial artistic life." he said in 2009.

While the kids aren't always so impressed with his work, Hawke says he got some instant credibility with his youngest daughter after joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"My 13-year-old saw the Moon Knight trailer and all of the sudden my being an actor was real to her," he told People earlier this year. "She watched it on her phone, she's like 'Dad, this looks really good.' I mean her eyes just went [wide]; she couldn't believe it. 'That's what the kids at school are talking about.' So this is the first one that [impressed] her."

Is Ethan Hawke still married?

Hawke is enamored with his wife. Their love took him"by complete surprise. I hesitate to speak about it because I've learned the hard way that the future often plays us all for fools, but Ryan and I are living through a rather blessed period of our life," he told The Guardian.

The two keep their relationship rather private, although they do appear on red carpets together and are seen out and about in New York City, where they live. What's the secret to their long-lasting relationship? "The bottom line is we're incredibly compatible," Hawke shared with The Guardian. "We grew up in the same town, you know, all that old school sh** your grandma told you: 'Make sure you're friends first, that you have things in common, that you like the same people. Are they kind? Do they challenge you intellectually?'"

Next, find out what project Ethan Hawke learned from the most.